Hotcakes [Photo Post]

The things a mother does for love...on a hot day...in a house with no air conditioning...

The Results

Christmas in July [Thursday Think Tank]

Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels and LouLouThi Flannels

In recent years I've accepted the fact that I don't accomplish anything on time - at least not in my personal life.  I create a thousand To Do Lists...and yet...it just doesn't seem to happen!  I suppose no amount of writing something down is going to actually make you do it or, more appropriately in my case, give you the TIME to do it.  That said, I am giving serious consideration to the whole Christmas in July phenomenon.  I'm jumping on it and getting some of my Christmas To Dos if not finished at least started now...

One gift idea I've kicked around for awhile is making the girls Zig Zag Flannel Quilts using Anna Maria Horner's flannels.  In retrospect, I am grateful that I never started this project because now I will be making three instead of two!  Luckily, I have the stash to complete it and aside from backing I won't need to buy anything.  Bonus that I'm sticking to my budget!

Here is the simple piecing layout sketched out on my iPad using Penultimate

And then I pulled out my precious AMH bin [yes, that's right, I have a BIN dedicated to Anna Maria Horner deliciousness...and yes, I'm obsessed] and started pulling together three colorways for the three quilts...


After taking such a long break from quilting I've taken the time [during late night/early morning nursing] to review my saved quilt pins on Pinterest and favorites on Flickr.  What stood out most is the use of color in these saved favorites.  Combining fabrics from different collections or creating a focus on specific color themes are areas I have real challenges with.  I've decided I need to take more time creating color palettes in my work.  I usually devote more thought to the piecing layout and the quilting as opposed to the color.  Surprisingly, finding the colorways was really fun to do in this instance and I hope it is the start of a new trend for my quilt pieces!  

Just look at this fabric porn right here!

Ophelia Colorway

Livinia Colorway

Eulalia Colorway

Obviously who the colorways are intended for are subject to change depending on the whim of the very vocal Miss E...but based on their personalities this is how I think it should go down.  I'd like the quilts to be roughly between 50-60" so that the girls can grow into and use them for quite awhile.  I'm planning 6" blocks cut into half square triangles.  I'd love to complete all three in time for placing under the Christmas tree, the piecing is rather straightforward so I'm optimistic that I'll meet my goal...for once...

What do you think about my colorway choices - have a favorite?  More importantly, what are you brainstorming about these days?  I'd love to see!  Leave me a thumblink on the TTT Linky Party below...

- rebecca lynne

p.s. Thank you for the well wishes for Miss E.  It was a rough night trying to convince her to take her medicine...hopefully today will be a bit easier now that she's likely to be a tad more rational after sleep...hopefully...  Suggestions on how to convince a three year old to take "yucky tasting" medicine are being happily accepted in the comments below!

Feel free to rattle off anything that has been brewing in your creative heads. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank.  TTT is all about whatever you are currently brainstorming and would like feedback or encouragement on!

Have a blog? Grab the Thursday Think Tank button displayed on the right. Thanks to everyone who linked up last week.
One small request: Please remember to Add a Link to Thursday Think Tank in your Blog Post - this enables Your Readers to visit the Linky Party and share other people's TTT links with Your Readers.  Thank you!

Wanting Well Wishes & A WIP Peek

My biggest baby girl, Miss E, is undergoing surgery today to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.  I am quite a wreck even though I am assured it is routine...I may be MIA for a few days while my firstborn goes through recovery (which I was told can be pretty painful, ugh).  Please, if you think of it, take a moment to send her good vibes during the next few days as I am sure it can only help her recover that much faster...

In the meantime, I leave you with a peek of what I am currently working on as a gift for a friend...

- rebecca lynne

Potty Training with Daughter No. 2 [Photo Post]

Potty Training Miss V Style

One Quiet Hour [Photo Post]

I was able to spend a quiet hour...well, almost alone...  Miss O and Portia kept me company while the two older girls and the Mr. were attending music class.  We shared a peaceful hour together with the hum of my sewing machine...

- rebecca lynne

Love and Electronics [TGIFF]

From the moment I saw Melody Miller's Ruby Star Shining line I knew that if I ever owned an iPad I was going to have to use this fabric for it.  The typewriter, the heart, oh the love.  So when the need arose for me to have a little carry bag to transport my cork covered iPad, Nano, Headphones, and iPhone I knew exactly what fabric to use!

The bag measures 8"h x 11"w x 3"d.  It has an inside pocket divider and easily slips into my larger handbag so I can put my electronics in whatever bag I might be using that day.  It is especially convenient as I travel between my 1st and 2nd floor while carrying Miss O...

Then, while cuddling with Miss O balanced on my lap, I decided I had to make a little trinket for myself...

I realized after naming Miss O that she and her sister's initials were very special indeed.  At first my father pointed out that E, L & O stood for the Electric Light Orchestra.  Um, okay, not really a thrill for me anyway.  But in my sleep deprived mind it struck me that their initials also made up 3 of the 4 letters for L-O-V-E.  

In typical Rebecca Lynne style I completely freaked out at my good fortune and disgusting cuteness of it all that I had to do something with their initials as soon as I realized!  [note: I refer to my daughter L as Miss V when blogging because her nickname begins with a V, a nickname started by Miss E who no longer calls anyone by a nickname because at age 3 she wants to prove she can say everyone's full names including middle names when she knows them.  Anyway, I only point this out because lest my readers think I suddenly had yet another child or that I had forgotten my child's name!]

Linking up to TGIFF hosted this week by Pretty Bobbins!  Hoping you all have an excellent weekend and for those of you experiencing summer as we are without air conditioning...stay cool...

- rebecca lynne

Becca on a Budget [Thursday Think Tank]

Now that we have THREE DAUGHTERS the Mr. and I have been taking serious stock of our life.  I know, you'd think we would've done that...mmm I don't know before or shortly after daughter #1 right?  Ha, well we are slow learners.  No actually now that we are out of the city life is looking different and we want things we never thought we'd ever want before like a house!  We are finally in a place where we imagine staying put for a very long time and our piggy bank is a tad slender...okay, let's be real, the piggy bank is starving!

Having moved from Brooklyn to Far Far Away we are already on a far better track than a year ago but, with the birth of Miss O and the looming entry into Kindergarten for Miss E, we realize our timeline is moving rather quickly.  Sigh.  So, it is time to focus on seriously fixing our finances and that is going to mean no fabric splurging while we save money for a house.  Luckily I have a huge stash of fabric waiting to be dealt with so it isn't as if I won't have fabric for this year's long list of projects that is for sure!

Now, this doesn't mean I can't have any new fabric this year...after all...nothing will be keeping me from this:

Anna Maria Horner's Field Study Line

My sweetest Mr. did point out that I do have a birthday and Christmas to receive gifts...so I'll be holding out for the Anna Maria Horner line.  For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with all things AMH!  In fact, I plan on making a few AMH quilts for the three lovely princesses in the coming year...

What will this mean for MRL?  Well, I will definitely need mad support from friends & family (both in real life and virtual) while I practice shopping restraint.  Also, I am seriously considering opening an Etsy shop devoted to destash - anyone have a good destash shop name I can use?

- rebecca lynne

Feel free to rattle off anything that has been brewing in your creative heads. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank. 

Have a blog? Grab the Thursday Think Tank button displayed on the right. Thanks to everyone who linked up last week.Just a small request: Please remember to Add a Link to Thursday Think Tank in your Blog Post - that way the other people in the Linky Party are being shared with your readers! Thank you!

Back to the UFOs

My biggest work in progress these days is surviving three under four...  But even with the sleepless newborn nights I feel so much more motivation to do things than I did while pregnant.  And, after finishing this project, I felt like I needed to continue to tackle other UFOs in my pile.

So, I am back to work on my Hummingbirds & Hexagons Quilt.  Once again I have taken over half of my family's table and work on it in pieces throughout the day.  If the girls are getting along and the baby is napping then I pop onto the machine for five minutes here or ten minutes there to work my way through the quilting...

closeup of flower quilting pattern

It has been decades it seems since I linked up at Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday...but here I go once again!  Do stop over and see other people's works in progress, there is lots of inspiration and ideas for anyone looking for a new project to ogle over...

- rebecca lynne

Finished! Miss O's Quilt {Sew} Modern Monday

Cuddling with Miss O is really amazing.  But, I kept feeling a twinge of guilt every time I used one of her sister's quilts to cover her or lay her upon.  After all, I had their quilts finished before they even arrived!  So...I decided I had to sacrifice some cuddling and get the job done...

You may remembering my post about finishing the quilt top here.  The girls were so excited about it that when I pulled it out to finish it they immediately knew it was the quilt for their baby sister.  Miss E kept saying "this quilt is for O, but the next one is for me right Mommy?" hahaha, cheeky girl...

Anyway I thought I was going to do some simple quilting to finish this quilt off quickly so that Miss O would be able to use it before outgrowing it.  But, as typical MRL style, I started getting more creative as I went.  I realized that I began my FMQ journey while pregnant with Miss O so it is only appropriate that I apply some FMQ to her quilt after all!  Here are some pics of what I did...

I started off with some simple squares, straight lines, nothing big and then decided to do service to Miss O's name I should do some circles.  It was quite a risk because my circles are far from perfect, but I liked the pebbly look and texture it lent the fabric...

Miss E jumped at the chance to hold up the quilt for pictures.  I can't believe how tall she's gotten...just a few months ago she held up the top for me and needed a stool...

Of course once Miss V saw Miss E getting all the quilt fun she needed to jump in.  This then resulted in a major tug of war over the quilt during which I had to separate them, give them each their own quilt and allow them to play peek a boo amongst themselves from there.  Hey, what can I say, I'm blessed that my girls love quilts as much as their Mommy!

And of course the Miss O needed to model her quilt as well.  Here she is in all of her glory...

The fabric is Cloud9 Maman collection.  It is so vivid - my photographs aren't doctored the colors really are this bright!  I had never used organic fabric before and I am not sure I love the way it feels...it seems a tad, not stiff, but rough?  The fabric doesn't have that soft worn feel that some of my other quilts have.  I'm hoping that over time it will grow softer through use but it is good to know for future fabric purchases.  Regardless, Miss O is very posh with her organic fabric quilt...

Linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday over at Canoe Ridge Creations.  Go check out all the fun finishes!

- rebecca lynne

It's a Girl! Introducing Ms. O...

I'd like to introduce Miss O!  She is a week old today and is doing so well.  Miss E and Miss L are madly in love with her...as is the Mr.  

Missing you all, and itching to sew, but wanting to hold baby more...

- rebecca lynne